Being second on the Logue 1 standing gives RC Lens the confidence to record further wins.

All thanks to Seko Fofana, who has been an impressive RC Lens. This is a team that have beaten Olympique de Marseille. This is why they have been tagged favourite ahead of their meeting with Toulouse FC at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis on Friday.

Lens have recorded 27 points so far. Their latest performance is three wins from their last four games to be just five points behind league leaders and champions Paris Saint-Germain.

The only loss suffered so far was in Derby du Nord against rivals LOSC which ended their 17-game run with a narrow 1-0 win in Round 10. They have, however, recorded victories by the same margin over Olympique Lyonnais, Montpellier Hérault SC, and most recently, Marseille. Thus, their European dream continues on Friday.

Lens got the maximum points through David Costa’s solitary strike at OM’s Orange Vélodrome last Saturday.

But their driving force seems to be captain Fofana, who has been singled out for special praise by assistant manager Yannick Cahuzac.

He described the skipper as a leader, on and off the field, adding that the team is off when he’s off in his game.

“But he leveled up in the second half (against Marseille). He was part of our first line of pressing and brought all his quality and desire, reflecting on the team”, he added.

Fofana will be in the starting lineup for Lens on Friday. But Haise will have to play without Facundo Medina, who is suspended.

 Jonathan Gradit is already out of action for a month with a collarbone injury. He is expected to be back in the nick of time for the manager to stick with his favoured 3-4-2-1 formation.

Toulouse are 10th on the log, eight places, and 11 points behind their hosts. They are going into the game on the back of four games unbeaten record. They have also won eight of the last 12 possible points.

So, this is expected to be an exciting clash